Poll: Satisfaction with presidential candidates lowest in 20 years

Only a little more than half of American voters say they are satisfied with the candidates in this year’s presidential election, according to a poll released Monday.

The Pew Research Center survey shows that 54 percent of voters say they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the choice this year between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney — the lowest percentage since 1992.

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Republicans are less satisfied with the candidates than Democrats, with only 57 percent of GOP voters saying they are satisfied to some degree compared to 66 percent of Democrats.

The overall satisfaction rate is dragged down primarily by independents, only 45 percent of whom say they are “very” or “fairly” satisfied with this year’s options.

Voter satisfaction with candidates had actually increased with each election from 1992 to 2008.

In 1992, only 51 percent of voters were satisfied with the presidential candidates, but that number grew to 72 percent by 2008 when Mr. Obama squared off against GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

This year marks the second straight election where Democrats are more satisfied with the candidates than Republicans.

Since Pew first conducted the survey in 1992, the party expressing greater satisfaction with the choice of candidates has won that year’s election.